Harry Potter and the Second Great War
by Red2
Summary: Harry PotterBuffy the Vampire Slayer crossover. Buffy and the gang come to Hogwarts after defeating the First to help certain students in the fight against a certain Dark Lord ...
1. Default Chapter

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Timeline Harry Potter - after _Order of the Phoenix_. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - after _Chosen._

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Disclaimer None of these characters belong to me. All Harry Potter related characters, settings etc belong to JK Rowling; all BtVS characters etc belong to Joss Whedon.

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Author's Note Yet _another_ HPBtVS crossover, I know! But they're fun to write and there are some really good ones out there. Hope you like this!

Harry Potter was dreaming again; dreams like these, which seemed to connect him to Lord Voldemort, sadly happened all too often. In it, he stood in the darkness, absolute darkness, everywhere, choking him. Unconsciously he reached out his hands to the darkness on either side of him and felt two people - his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The darkness immediately around him lessened. Ron's bright red hair was like a silent beacon in the shadows, and Harry's heart constricted painfully with the thought that his two greatest friends were standing by his side to face - 

__

Lord Voldemort. From the midnight shadows directly in front of Harry, a tall, thin, inhuman figure emerged, red snake-eyes glowing like embers. He stared at the three teenagers, then, to Harry's surprise, reached a skeletal, long-fingered hand towards Hermione, till it was almost touching her cheek. Harry could do nothing; he felt utterly paralysed as he watched Hermione's look of horror. And suddenly, Harry felt what the Dark Lord felt as he saw Hermione - a mixture of curiosity, perhaps surprise too, and above all, a desire to possess her power. In his mind Harry started shouting.

"No! Not Hermione! No!"

Even more unfortunately for Harry was _where _he was having this precise dream -

"Mr Potter. If you feel you are too good for my class and thus can sleep during these lessons and dream of your little - _girlfriend_ - then I highly suggest you get out. Go and see the Headmaster. _Now_."

Harry gave Snape a dirty look as he walked past him. As he moved through the dungeon he was aware of the blush in Hermione's cheeks and realised he must have spoken the last part of his dream out aloud. Sure enough, the Slytherins were shouting "No, not Hermione!" in high-pitched voices as he walked past them. Harry, however, was only vaguely aware of this. He could think of one thing only - _why did Voldemort want Hermione?_ He only hoped Dumbledore could help.

***

Hermione meanwhile was having a bad day. And it had just gotten worse.

"Oh look, it's the little mudblood. Away to see your boyfriend Harry the Hero, are we?"

"Shove off, Malfoy," she replied wearily. "Stop being a prat." His pale face darkened slightly and he removed his wand from his robe pockets. Hermione looked around. _Oh, great._ There was no-one else about. And bloody Malfoy now had his wand pointed at her.

"Did you just call _me_ a prat, Granger?"

Her own wand out now, Hermione looked at him, her temper worsening by the minute. "Yes, you idiot. Or are you deaf aswell as stupid?" And she lifted her wand. Malfoy clearly had other ideas though. He lunged forward and made a grab for Hermione's wand. She wasn't really sure what happened next - she pushed the Slytherin in the chest to stop him taking her wand, and instead of him stumbling, he went flying halfway down the corridor, where he lay too stunned to move.

Hermione looked around, as if expecting to see the person who had done this. But it was just her and Malfoy in the corridor. _Malfoy! _She stepped forward to ask if he was hurt, but by this time he had recovered himself and was stalking down the hallway, his pride considerably wounded.

She looked around again: no-one had appeared to see what the commotion was about. Worriedly, she shouldered her book bag and hurried off in the direction of the Gryffindor common room. _What was wrong with her?_

Albus Dumbledore appeared from behind the statue leading to his office. "Oh dear," he announced to the empty corridor at large. "Oh dear. This _does_ change things."

__


	2. Chapter Two

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Timeline Harry Potter - after _Order of the Phoenix_. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - after _Chosen._

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Disclaimer None of these characters belong to me. All Harry Potter related characters, settings etc belong to JK Rowling; all BtVS characters etc belong to Joss Whedon.

Hermione was sat in Transfiguration, putting all her concentration into transfiguring a delicate china teacup into a rather attractive carriage clock, when Professor McGonagall tapped her on the shoulder.

"Miss Granger. The Headmaster would like to see you." She indicated the door, where Professor Dumbledore was standing, waiting, with a benevolent smile on his face. Hermione paled for a moment: was this about the incident with Draco Malfoy in the Charms corridor? It couldn't be, she reasoned - that had happened a few days ago, and Malfoy had said nothing. Clearly he didn't want anyone to know about a muggle-born girl getting the better of him. The thought gave Hermione a private satisfaction.

She went to the door, carrying her heavy book bag easily. Harry and Ron watched curiously, but said nothing. Following Dumbledore wordlessly down the corridor, she wondered nervously what he could possibly want, when she hit a stomach-churning thought - _her studies weren't up to scratch. _Oh dear God, she was going to be thrown out, a disgrace to everyone, a useless witch ... 

But Dumbledore wasn't going towards his office. Instead, he led her towards the room at the back of the Great Hall where Harry and the other Triwizard Tournament competitors had gone when their names were pulled from the Goblet of Fire. Hermione forgot her anxiety for a moment, and wondered why Dumbledore had taken her here?

Entering the spacious room, she saw that they were not alone. A group of four people - two women and two men - were sat at the top end of a large table. The Headmaster led Hermione over to join them, drawing two extra seats from thin air with his wand as he did so. She took one and sat down opposite the blonde haired woman with some trepidation, as Dumbledore sat at the head of the table.

"Miss Granger," he addressed her kindly, "as you are aware, your friend Mr Potter had another - dream - in Professor Snape's potions class two days ago."

Hermione nodded dumbly. Harry had gone rushing off to Dumbledore with a panic-stricken look on his face, and later, when he returned would tell neither Ron nor Hermione about his dream.

As if reading her thoughts, Dumbledore continued: "I asked him specifically not to tell yourself or Mr Weasely what the contents of this dream were." He leaned forward and stared intently at Hermione. "Miss Granger, I don't believe in keeping secrets from my students unless absolutely necessary."

She frowned; what had this got to do with her? What Dumbledore said next made her feel as though she had been physically punched.

"Lord Voldemort is after you, Miss Granger."

She stopped breathing for a moment, then Dumbledore continued.

"In Harry's dream, he sensed Lord Voldemort's ... desire to possess your power, his interest in what you ... are."

"What I am?" she managed to ask.

"When I saw what happened with Mr Malfoy and yourself two days ago and after what Harry told me, I contacted my friend here," he said, indicating the oldest of the two men on his right, "to help."

Looking at the guests properly for the first time, Hermione got another jolt. When she looked into the blonde's eyes she felt something. A connection? She stared for a moment longer, then looked away, startled.

The man Professor Dumbledore had indicated spoke now, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose as he did so.

"My name is Rupert Giles, Hermione; do you know what a Vampire Slayer is?"


	3. Chapter Three

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Timeline Harry Potter - after _Order of the Phoenix_. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - after _Chosen._

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Disclaimer None of these characters belong to me. All Harry Potter related characters, settings etc belong to JK Rowling; all BtVS characters etc belong to Joss Whedon.

"Do you know what a Vampire Slayer is?"

This was certainly not what Hermione expected. She swallowed hard, her throat dry and parched.

"Erm, yes, sir, I think so. I mean," she said with a glance a Dumbledore who was watching her intently, "we haven't covered the topic in Defence Against the Dark Arts yet. Not until later this year, I think, but I'm sure I've read about her in a book." She thought for a moment, then said, reciting from memory: _"Into every generation a Chosen one is born. She alone will have the strength and skill to stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer."_

Mr Giles nodded. "So you aware of the nature of the Chosen one and her destiny?" She nodded, her curiosity written on her face - _what had this got to do with her?_

The man continued, noticing Hermione's utter confusion. "Up until a few months ago, that was true, with one exception. _She alone ..._ However, a great evil mounted an attack on the forces of good - that is, the Slayer - for ... reasons. This evil, the First Evil, amassed an army of vampires unlike your generic, common vampires, called Turok Han."

Hermione gasped. She had read of the Turok Han at one point. Mr Giles looked slightly taken aback but pleased that she knew of these creatures. Clearing his throat, he continued:

"The First's minions, Bringers -" at this point an image of a deformed human-like creature flashed in Hermione's mind, but she pushed it away - "were despatched round the world to kill all young girls with the Potential to become the Slayer should the current girl die, thus ending the Slayer line with the death of that young woman with no successor. I, as a former Watcher - I shall explain that later - gathered up as many Potentials as I could and brought them to Sunnydale, California where the Slayer lived; where she could protect them."

The red-haired woman coughed suddenly, and raised her eyebrows at Mr Giles, indicating he should speed up. He cleared his throat, then went on. "Er, yes, so ... instead of waiting for the final attack of the First, the Slayer found a weapon, a scythe, which was then used by a powerful witch to unlock the power of the Slayer. That is, every girl that had the Potential became a Slayer, and so the Slayer and her army waged war on the First and won."

The younger man spoke, and Hermione was surprised to hear he was American: "What G-Man is _trying_ to say is that Sunnyhell is now a big crater in the ground and there are hundreds of Slayers all over the world."

Mr Giles gave the young man a withering look. "Thank you, Xander." He turned to Hermione to address her now. "This is Alexander Harris, one of the Slayer's closest friends," he said indicating the man who had spoken. "This is Willow Rosenberg, another of the Slayer's close friends and the witch who unleashed the power of the Slayer." Hermione's eyes widened; the girl was obviously powerful.

Giles had turned away from her now, and indicated the small blonde woman sat next to him. "And this is Buffy Summers. The last, and arguably greatest, of the actual Slayer line itself." The girl reddened and elbowed Giles playfully. Hermione's eyes widened further.

Her attention had been so focussed on the story the man had told her, she had almost forgotten something: "What's this got to do with me?"

The Slayer - or rather _a_ Slayer, now - looked at Hermione. "I think you can feel it deep down inside, even if you don't know it. Hermione, you're a Slayer now."

Silence followed this announcement. Hermione looked at Professor Dumbledore, who had remained silent and attentive throughout the tale. "I'm sorry," she said firmly. "I think you've made a mistake. I'm a bookworm, a good witch. _Not_ a ... a Slayer!" And pushing her chair away, she rose from the table and walked away. They watched her go silently, apart from Buffy, who nudged Giles silently and raised her eyebrows.

Sighing, he removed a dagger from the case at his feet and, at the same time as he called her name, threw the dagger straight at Hermione's head.

Hermione, who was halfway across the room at this point spun round upon hearing her name and did the only thing she could: threw her hands up with preternatural speed and caught the blade inches from her forehead.

She stood perfectly still for a minute, holding the knife. Then, she lowered her arms and silently walked back towards the table.


	4. Chapter Four

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Timeline Harry Potter - after _Order of the Phoenix_. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - after _Chosen._

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Disclaimer None of these characters belong to me. All Harry Potter related characters, settings etc belong to JK Rowling; all BtVS characters etc belong to Joss Whedon.

Buffy watched the young girl as she left the room, and felt a small pang of sadness for her - she had a destiny now, whether she liked it or not. Of course, she could say no, but ... but Buffy had a feeling that this wasn't an option for this young girl. This young Slayer. Inhaling deeply, she turned to face the others at the table. At least Hermione wouldn't be alone.

"So, Professor," Giles was saying, "we shall come back to Hogwarts in about a week. You said you had a long weekend coming up then?" Dumbledore nodded affirmatively. "Obviously, as we have discussed with her, there is little question of Hermione not continuing her education - she is a bright young woman, and a Slayer who is a witch is something of a rarity."

Buffy had been extremely surprised when, after only a few days in England at Giles' house/mini-mansion, an owl had arrived. Carrying a letter. Addressed to "Rupert Giles and his Slayer." It had requested that the bizarrely-named Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, be allowed to visit them to discuss matters of great importance. Giles had written back, and the man - resplendent in purple and midnight blue robes with a beard down to his knees and half-moon glasses - had appeared the next day. Out of the fireplace.

To say the least, the assembled Scoobies were shocked, all with the exception of Giles, who professed to have known Dumbledore in his days as a young Watcher, when he had been doing the less than fun job of Watchers' Council - Ministry of Magic liason. According to Giles, Albus Dumbledore had been the only wizard who had made that job bearable in the slightest; the only wizard who believed in firm cooperation between the two bodies.

They had all been even more surprised to learn of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ("No fair!" Willow had said laughingly). And the fact that Professor Dumbledore thought there may be a Slayer there. So, they had agreed to come and meet the young woman, just Xander, Buffy, Willow and Giles.

Dawn had stayed at 'home' although they didn't have one now. She had been intriuged by the idea of a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but Buffy had preferred that Dawn stay in London. She was enjoying it anyway, and had made friends with some of the Slayers, particularly those who had made it through the fight at the Hellmouth.

Once again Buffy turned her attention back to the conversation, hoping no-one had noticed her momentary lapse in concentration. "Who will train the girl?" Xander asked. All faces turned to Buffy.

"Me, I guess," she said slowly. "I mean, there's Faith aswell, so it isn't like the other girls would be stuck for someone to train them, but there are alot of them." She laughed wryly. "And Giles' house - big, but not big enough." She ran her hands through her hair. "There's alot to sort out, y'know? Where to train, how to organise the council and the slayers, where to live, Dawnie ... "

The old man nodded and peered at her through his half-moon glasses. "My dear, I would be glad to assist where ever I can. Rupert was a good friend back in the old days, and I have heard glowing reports of you and all you have accomplished." Dumbledore paused. "There is another matter I would like to discuss with you too," he said slowly, "pertaining to Miss Granger in part. As you may have gleaned from the early part of our meeting, she is close friends with a young man named Harry Potter ..." 


	5. Chapter Five

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Timeline Harry Potter - after _Order of the Phoenix_. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - after _Chosen._

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Disclaimer None of these characters belong to me. All Harry Potter related characters, settings etc belong to JK Rowling; all BtVS characters etc belong to Joss Whedon.

**A/N** When I wrote this chapter, I knew that it was very out of character for Hermione, but she's just had a _big_ change to deal with in her life, so she had to react to it some way. And I have to admit, I wanted to write this, 'cause it was fun! If it's really awful, or you take exception to it, just review and let me know (constructively!). 

She had spent much of her time in the library the past few days, ever since Dumbledore had called her out of Transfiguration. Mainly it was to avoid Harry and Ron, whom, Dumbledore had suggested, it would be better not to inform of Hermione's ... role just yet. She agreed; she didn't feel ready to tell them, and was in truth slightly scared of how they would react.

All the time spent in the library was also partly to try and come to terms with the revelation. The incident with Malfoy in the corridor was clear to her now, but she was reluctant to try out any more of her power. Reluctant, and, again, scared. 

Looking down at the book on the desk infront of her, Hermione sighed. She should just get it over with. "Come on, Hermione," she muttered under her breath. "Don't be such an idiot." Then, quickly, so she wouldn't lose her courage, she flipped the book open to a certain page headed "The Legend of the Vampire Slayer" and began to read.

***

A short while later, Hermione left the library, under the watchful glare of Madam Pince. It was rather late at night, but it was a Friday, and also Seamus' birthday, so the Gryffindor common room was not going to be the quietest of places.

Hermione, however, was no longer bothered about this. She felt numb inside. _"The life expectancy of the Vampire Slayer is notoriously short and always has been ..."_ Hermione didn't quite feel she was ready to die fighting the forces of evil just yet. She hadn't even sat her NEWTs for God's sake.

When she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, who eyed her wearily and said "It's quite a party they're having in there ... I hope you're not going to add to the noise", she gave the password ("Vampire", by some cruel coincidence) and entered.

It was obviously later than she had thought - no wonder Madam Pince had been giving her such filthy looks - because the common room was almost empty apart from -

  
"Awright, 'Mione!" yelled Dean from an armchair, as he passed the bottle of Old Ogden's Firewhisky to Seamus. She rolled her eyes. As a prefect, she knew she should report them, or at least tell them off. Recently, she couldn't be bothered, much to the delight of some of the younger Gryffindors and the confusion of some of the older students.

"D'you want to try a drop, Hermioneeeeeeeeeeeee?" One of the armchairs in front of her revolved slowly, revealing Ron, draped over the cushions like a boneless amphibian, with the bottle clutched askew in one hand.

Hermione's eyebrows shot up in spite of herself. "Ron!" she admonished.

"Oh c'mon Hem - Hern - Hermy - join in the partaaaaaaaaaay." She turned round this time, not daring to believe that Harry could be quite so stupid as to join in. Harry, glasses askance, had Neville - _Oh dear God_ thought Hermione - hooked under the arms and was hoisting his unconcious form onto the large sofa. Harry grimaced. "Nevvy don't hold 'is drink so well." Behind her Ron, Dean and Seamus sniggered.

"Ah, c'mon, 'Mione, you only live once," Ron said, before she could stomp upstairs to the girls' dormitory. She stopped ... _life expectancy ... notoriously short _... She turned round. Ron was holding the bottle in an unsteady hand towards her, and without really believing what she was doing, she took it and gulped down a mouthful of the amber liquid. It was like a fire in her belly, a hot burning sensation that made her feel properly real for the first time in days.

Dropping down beside Harry on the couch next to Ron, she took another mouthful and passed him the bottle, as it did another round of their small circle.

***

"How zis? 'Dearest Parvati, I fink your gorg ... grov ... goeorge ... really pretty, so do you wanna ...'?" Dean looked at Hermione, who giggled and shook her head. He frowned, then scrunched up the piece of parchment on which he was now proposing unspeakable things to Parvati Patil and chucked it on the pile of illegible scribbles already littering the floor. He, Seamus and Ron, bent their heads towards a fresh piece of parchment. Hermione dropped onto the armchair beside Harry, who was vaguely patting Neville's head, and took yet another gulp of the Firewhisky before passing it back.

"List'n to this," she said, picking a ball of parchment from underneath her. " 'Parvati, Roses are red, violets are blue, Padma is sexy, so so are you'. Oh yes, how could Parvati possibly resist _that_. Give it up, boys!" Harry laughed and took the parchment from her hand. He screwed it into a ball again and chucked it lazily at the bin. And missed by several yards. Tutting, Hermione pulled out her wand and muttered " 'ccio parment". Unsurprisingly nothing happened, so she grabbed another discarded piece of parchment and launched it at the bin. It made a high arch in the air and fell neatly into the basket.

"Wow, 'Mione, how d'you do that?" Harry murmured thickly.

"S'easy," she said, trying to tap the side of her nose and missing completely. " 'Scoz ... is coz ..." She leaned forward towards Harry, bumping her head against his by accident. " 'Scoz ma Slerr, Harry. Ma Vam'r Slerr."

"Woss that?" he replied curiously. But Hermione had passed out on his shoulder. He looked towards the other three, who had now joined 'Nevvy' and 'Hermy' in the land of nod. Two seconds later, Harry was with them, the smell and taste of Firewhisky fresh in his mouth.


	6. Chapter Six

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Timeline Harry Potter - after _Order of the Phoenix_. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - after _Chosen._

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Disclaimer None of these characters belong to me. All Harry Potter related characters, settings etc belong to JK Rowling; all BtVS characters etc belong to Joss Whedon.

**Author's Note **This really should have been before Chapter Five, but it doesn't affect the story greatly, so I've just added it in here.

**Author's Note ii **Sorry that this update took so long. Updates should be more frequent as I now have about eight further chapters written. Thank you to everyone who reviewed.

Harry sat on his bed, propped up against the headboard. He was the only one in the room, so did not bother to draw the drapes. Instead he sat holding a snitch in his hand, releasing it then catching it again, over and over, as he stared off into space. He was faintly aware of who he reminded himself of: his father, as he had seen in Snape's Pensieve, playing easily with the snitch.

However, thoughts of James Potter only led to thoughts of Sirius Black. Harry's summer had passed in a numb daze, from the first day to the last. Moody's warning had obviously still been resonating in the ears of the Dursleys, who had avoided Harry like the plague. He was thankful for small mercies though.

For their part, Ron and Hermione had kept in regular contact with him, although neither really knew what to say to ease the sharp pain of Sirius' death. His listless replies to their letters had worried both of his dearest friends no end, but they persevered, desperate not to repeat the previous summer's drama.

Now Harry's thoughts turned to Lord Voldemort. Worryingly, there had been, from Harry's point of view, very little activity where the Dark Lord was concerned. He had no idea what the Order of the Phoenix was doing, and he could barely bring himself to care. Sirius was dead, and it was that which consumed him - particularly his guilt at his role in Sirius' death. Part of him, the rational part, knew that his godfather would have come to the Ministry anyway, but ...

There was anger, too, at Bellatrix Lestrange. Thinking of her laugh as she killed Sirius and her cold mirth at Harry's failed attempt to hurt her made his blood boil. But he pushed his anger deep down inside, because it would not help Sirius now. Nothing could.

Harry returned to idly releasing and catching the snitch. Ron came in at a that point, interrupting his thoughts. Harry studied his best friend's face briefly as he approached his own bed, checking for any sign of apprehension at being alone in the same room as Harry. There was none, and Harry felt a slight weight being lifted - after the events of the previous term, some people treated Harry as though he were swaddled in cottonwool, but neither Ron nor Hermione had treated him like this, and so Harry liked it best when it was just the three of them. Speaking of which -

"What d'you reckon's the matter with Hermione?" Ron asked, puzzled. "She won't talk about what Dumbledore wanted the other day, and I think she's avoiding us."

Nodding, Harry puzzled this over too. He was sure it had something to do with his dream, which he had told neither of his friends about.

"I asked her just there and she got really grumpy and stomped off to the library." Ron sighed. "Women." Harry laughed, but at the back of his mind, he couldn't help but worry and wonder about Hermione, and his dream.


	7. Chapter Seven

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Timeline Harry Potter - after _Order of the Phoenix_. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - after _Chosen._

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Disclaimer None of these characters belong to me. All Harry Potter related characters, settings etc belong to JK Rowling; all BtVS characters etc belong to Joss Whedon.

Two hours later, Hermione Granger woke up. Her head was sore, but not blindingly so. She had to blink a few times before she realised where she was - half slumped on top of Harry Potter, who was half slumped on her. Disentangling herself, she gently lifted Harry's wrist and saw by his watch it was 5:30 in the morning.

Hermione sighed. She really didn't feel that bad. Maybe it was one of the physical properties of being a Slayer. Or maybe she could just hold her drink very well, she reflected ruefully. Suddenly, she stifled a gasp. She distinctly remembered saying to Harry something about being a Slayer. _Oh God_. No, he wouldn't remember. She was sure of it.

Cautiously she went up the girls' dormitory and gathered a few things, then crept back down without a sound - Slayer stealth, she thought, too weary to want to forget about these things. Hermione left the common room silently and moved towards the Prefects' bathroom - what she really needed was a nice, long soak.

About an hour after that, Hermione felt rested and refreshed, and smelt faintly of roses. The bath had been extremely relaxing, apart from a small incident with Moaning Myrtle who grumpily asserted she had been asleep in the u-bend before Hermione had arrived.

Being who she was, Hermione regretted very much what had happened the night before, but she'd just felt so - _reckless. _It was extremely uncharacteristic for her and she found herself wondering if it was part of being a Slayer. Living on the edge. Needless to say, last night would not be repeated. And if Seamus, Dean, Ron or Harry dared to say _anything ..._

Ron and Harry. Now that was slightly puzzling. Hermione hoped they'd regret their actions too. What they could remember of them - she allowed herself a small smile at this. She could see perhaps why Ron might do it: his friend's birthday, a Friday night, a party ... a typical teenage boy. And Harry the same too, to an extent. But with Sirius' death ...

As she realised she was drawing near to the portrait hole, Hermione's train of thought stopped abruptly. She murmured the password and entered, to find the room a mess and the four boys still comatose. Rolling up her robe sleeves, Hermione pulled out her wand. There was work to be done here.

A few muttered charms cleared the room of incriminating empty bottles, and equally incriminating crumpled parchment - _if only Parvati could see that _- and made it look half decent. Then she turned her attention to the four boys. Five boys - Neville was still stretched across the cushions.

The bushy haired Gryffindor thought about this for a moment, then left the common room for the second time that morning. Although she ran the risk of bumping into that hellish cat Mrs Norris, it was early enough for her to be out of bed without too many questions.

When she reappeared, Hermione was carrying a tray of steaming coffee. Being early on a Saturday morning, the common room was still empty. She shook each boy awake quickly. At least this bossiness was part of herself, she reflected, as she served the coffee with her most disapproving look.

When Harry and Ron appeared in the common room later that day, Hermione was sat at a table, finishing off her last roll of parchment on a particularly venomous Potions essay, due in that Tuesday. Both boys sat down at the table, without saying a word.

"Hermione ..." Ron began, sharing a guilty look with Harry.

"We're very sorry," Harry continued for him.

"Yeah, we didn't mean to make you feel you had to have some Firewhisky," intercepted Ron.

Harry looked puzzled. "But we did wonder - why did you? I mean, it was a really stupid thing for us to do, but you?"

Hermione opened her mouth. "_If_ I could just get a word in edgeways. No-one forced me to consume that _stuff_. I just ... Oh, it's too hard to explain."

There was silence for a minute. Then: "How do you both feel anyway?" Hermione said with a smirk.


	8. Chapter Eight

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Timeline Harry Potter - after _Order of the Phoenix_. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - after _Chosen._

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Disclaimer None of these characters belong to me. All Harry Potter related characters, settings etc belong to JK Rowling; all BtVS characters etc belong to Joss Whedon.

"Dawn! Dawn, would you hurry _up_! We're going to be late!" Buffy turned round and rolled her eyes at Willow, Xander and Giles. "Does Dawn know we're not going to see the Queen of England? It's just a school for God's sake."

Willow laughed. "She's just excited, Buff. And it was nice of Professor Dumbledore to consider Dawn for Hogwarts."

True to his word, Professor Dumbledore had tried his hardest to help the group with their problems since the defeat of the First Evil. With him they had discussed the idea of a training establishment of some description at Hogwarts and various other magical schools around the world. However, they had agreed that this would alert Voldemort to the army of Slayers, as it were, of which he appeared to be unaware.

Instead, Giles and Andrew, who was proving himself to be extremely useful, had made good progress in tracking down Watchers who remained all over the world. Groups of Slayers had been despatched to groups of these Watchers who were stationed at various demon hotspots for training. And of course, these girls had a choice.

Buffy had a choice now too, she knew, but ... She still felt like The Slayer. Faith agreed with her, and the two had decided to "keep on slayin'." Both liked the idea (although it was difficult to get Faith to admit it) of helping newly called Slayers, in the way neither of them had been helped.

Dawn appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "No need to shout, I'm ready," she said, smiling at her sister. As they walked into the palatial living room, Buffy wondered how Dawn was feeling. She'd made quite good friends with some of the Slayers who came to Giles' house as a result of Willow's locating spell, but they'd virtually all gone now, able to help the remaining Watchers with the knowledge and skills they had acquired from the fight against the First. Still, one or two of the girls remained, to help Faith and Buffy sort new Slayers, so maybe Dawn wasn't too lonely after all.

"So," Dawn was saying with more than a little scepticism in her tone, "we throw some of this onto the fire and say -"

"The Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley," Willow said, holding up the bag of Floo Powder Dumbledore had given them.

"Right," Dawn replied frowning. "Erm, maybe you should go first, Will."

Willow took a small handful of the powder and threw it onto the flames in the large fireplace. She spoke the destination loudly as she stepped into the green flames, hearing the others gasp as she vanished.

A few minutes later, the five Scoobies stood assembled in the small pub, empty except for the barman, Tom. Buffy was the only one to have come out the fire gracefully, rolling across the floor and springing to her feet. Dawn looked decidedly green and Xander had just finished dusting himself off when -

"A giant?" He asked incredulously. Indeed, it appeared a giant had entered the pub.

"Alright, Tom," it said in a deep voice. "Dumbledore's wee group arrived yet?" The barman smiled and pointed towards the five people stood by the fire.

"Just arrived, Hagrid."

The giant walked over and gave them all a massive smile. "I'm Reubus Hagrid, Keeper o' the Keys for Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore sent me to meet yeh, an' take yeh to Hogwarts."

At their blank smiles, he elaborated: "By portkey?" Giles nodded in understanding; this was how Dumbledore had transported them to Hogwarts the first time, stating that he felt it would be safer for them than Flooing directly there - it had been discovered that Umbridge had been tampering with the Hogwarts fireplaces before she had got her comeuppance.

Hagrid rubbed his hands together, then patted them about his voluminous greatcoat. "Now, I should have it 'ere somewhere." Pulling out a large rusted iron kettle, he set it down on the table. "Right, well, it should be active in five minutes or so. Just time for a wee half, eh Tom." He sat down at the table, indicating that they should all do so too. "Jus' put a hand each on this, 'cause I'm not awful sure when it's for."

Tentatively, exchanging looks, the Scoobies reached out a hand for the kettle, each finding a spot around Hagrid's shovel-like hands. Suddenly, they felt an irresistible jerk behind their navels, and a few seconds later found themselves in a large circular office. Professor Dumbledore was sat at the desk, and looked up, beaming.

"Excellent. I'm so glad you made it. How was your journey?" At the looks they exchanged, he laughed. "It does take a bit of getting used to." He turned to Hagrid, who was surreptitiously finishing off his drink. "Thank you, Hagrid." The giant man nodded at the Headmaster, then turned and left, slotting the glass into a secret coat pocket as he did so.

"Now," said Dumbledore, "you must be Dawn."


End file.
